When George Mason of Gunston Hall wrote the
Virginia Declaration of Rights in 1776, he gave the United
States the noble concept that the rights of the individual
must be protected against the power of government. By
placing in Virginia's first constitution a list of rights
that could never be taken away from citizens, Mason sought
to ensure a society in which government could not become
all-powerful. As a result of his influence, the first 10
amendments, which we know as the Bill of Rights, were added
to the United States Constitution. The universal
significance of this action made
the American Revolution much more than a
war for independence from Great Britain: it enshrined in our
most important public document the principle that a
government must always respect the rights of the people.
Mason, himself a slave owner, did not recognize that these
rights extended to slaves. Nevertheless, his words were
later used to demonstrate that slavery could not exist in a
country that proclaimed its belief in human rights. In the
United States, we have not always adhered to Mason's great
ideas, but they remain the measure of the best in our
national life.

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